Man Sentenced to 20 Years in U.S. Prison for Role in Attacks, Including One That Killed 13 Nepalis
Photo by Sasun Bughdaryan on Unsplash
Afghan national Mohammad Sharifullah, a member of the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham-Khorasan Province, or ISIS-K, was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in federal prison for his role in a nearly decade-long conspiracy to provide material support and resources to the designated foreign terrorist organization, the U.S. Justice Department said.
Sharifullah was involved in more than a dozen ISIS-K attacks between 2016 and his arrest in 2025, according to court records and evidence presented at trial. His activities included conducting surveillance, transporting suicide bombers, moving and cleaning weapons, relaying communications among ISIS-K members and recording explosions for ISIS-K propaganda.
Among the attacks was a June 20, 2016, suicide bombing in Kabul that killed 13 Nepali security guards protecting the Canadian Embassy.
The guards were traveling in a minibus toward the Canadian Embassy through a busy market area in Kabul when an ISIS-K suicide bomber approached the vehicle on foot wearing a suicide vest. The attacker detonated an explosive device near the minibus, killing all 13 Nepali security guards and injuring several civilians in the surrounding market area. People inside the Canadian Embassy were not harmed.
Before the attack, Sharifullah conducted surveillance to prepare for the bombing and later transported the suicide bomber to the attack site, according to evidence presented in U.S. court.
The case also links Sharifullah to the Aug. 26, 2021, ISIS-K suicide bombing at the Abbey Gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
At the time, U.S. and coalition forces were carrying out a noncombatant evacuation operation as thousands of civilians gathered at the airport’s Abbey Gate. ISIS-K leaders tasked Sharifullah with surveilling a road leading to the airport and determining whether it was clear of Taliban checkpoints.
At about 2 p.m., Sharifullah traveled the assigned route and informed ISIS-K leaders that the road was clear, according to the Justice Department.
At approximately 5:36 p.m., ISIS-K operative Abdul Rahman al-Logari detonated a body-worn suicide bomb at Abbey Gate, killing 13 U.S. service members and about 160 civilians, the department said.
Sharifullah previously knew al-Logari from their time together in an Afghan prison, according to the government.
Sharifullah also was linked to the March 22, 2024, attack on Crocus City Hall near Moscow. ISIS-K gunmen attacked the concert venue, killing more than 100 civilians.
The Justice Department said Sharifullah provided the attackers with instructions on using AK-style rifles and other weapons and communicated with them during the attack.
Sharifullah participated in more than a dozen ISIS-K attacks from 2016 until his apprehension in 2025, according to the Justice Department. His roles varied from conducting surveillance and transporting suicide bombers to moving and cleaning weapons, relaying messages among ISIS-K members and recording explosions for propaganda purposes.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said Sharifullah had spent nearly a decade providing support for attacks against civilians around the world and ultimately contributed to the deaths of 13 U.S. service members and others at Abbey Gate.
FBI officials said the Abbey Gate bombing took place thousands of miles from the United States but that the agency and its international partners worked to bring Sharifullah to the United States to face prosecution.
The FBI Washington Field Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John T. Gibbs, Avi Panth and Reed Sawyers of the Eastern District of Virginia and Justice Department trial attorney Ryan D. White prosecuted the case.
Sharifullah was arrested in 2025. He was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in federal prison.